UNC softball finds silver lining in series loss to Seminoles

North Carolina softball coach Donna Papa emphasizes improvement every day.

In a season marked by inconsistency, the Tar Heels (15-17, 3-6 ACC) showed fight in the face of No. 11 Florida State.

And after a sweep at the hands of the ACC-leading Seminoles (26-3, 6-0 ACC), Papa held onto her principles — focusing on the positives and improvements her team made rather than the disappointing end results.

“They’re a quality team, they’ve kind of dominated our conference in recent years,” Papa said of Florida State. “But I thought we hit their pitchers (well).”

In Friday’s game, the UNC batters faced 4-0 and 7-2 deficits in the middle innings, but battled to stay within striking distance and trailed only 7-4 after the fourth.

But the Seminoles finally pulled away en route to a 15-6 win.

Despite the lopsided score, Papa stayed positive.

“To answer back is big, you always want to answer back, ” she said. “I feel like we won on everything except the scoreboard. We fought every single inning.”

Saturday’s doubleheader followed much of the same script.

In the first game, Florida State jumped out to a 9-2 lead after two innings but UNC fought back. Taylor Wike’s two-run home run — the sophomore’s sixth on the season — and Aquilla Mateen’s aggressive base running drew the Tar Heels to a three-run deficit after three innings.

From that point, Florida State pitcher Meghan King and UNC’s Lauren Fuller held both teams scoreless in what ultimately became a 9-6 win for the Seminoles.

Florida State finally broke through on Fuller in her start in Saturday’s second game, tagging her for twelve runs - eight earned.

“They’re a great hitting team,” Fuller said. “So the more they see a pitcher, the better they’re going to hit.”

Despite Florida State’s success at the plate, the Tar Heels still refused to roll over.

A Kristen Brown RBI single in the fourth inning closed the deficit to 8-5 before Florida State broke the game open in the fifth with four runs, closing out the sweep with a 12-5 victory.

But even after three disappointing results, Mateen was positive about her team’s resilience.

“We competed, we fought and punched back. When they scored in an inning, we always came back and responded,” the senior said. “I think that’s a great step.”

After the series loss, Papa is happy for the team to put the weekend behind them and focus on moving forward.

“We lost all three games; that part stunk,” Papa said. “However, I do think we’re making progress to where we want to be, and it may not all happen in one game and at one time.

“It’s just going to be small steps for us.”

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